Secrets
by SNBRADY
Summary: A new arrival to Atlantis has a secret she's not sure she can keep. Not a Marysue, I promise.
1. The Meeting

Secrets

By: SNBRADY

Disclaimer: I don't own Atlantis, darn it.

Authors note: This is my first attempt at fan fiction so bear with me till I figure things out.

The Meeting

Dr. Elizabeth Weir stared across the conference room table at Dr. Sarah Reilly, M.D. and couldn't help thinking to herself that Dr. Reilly was an absolutely striking woman. She had her curly dark copper red hair pulled neatly into a ponytail, leaving in full view the delicate bone structure of her pale face and the way her eyes seemed to sparkle like fine emeralds. If it weren't for the fact that Dr. Reilly wasn't particularly tall she could have easily been a model, also the younger woman carried herself in a way that seemed far beyond her years, though granted Dr. Reilly was in fact thirty she looked to be maybe 23-24 years old.

Elizabeth had reviewed Dr. Reilly's file, so she didn't find it surprising that the young doctor was extremely mature, given her back ground. Dr. Reilly was raised in a military home, her father being Admiral Patrick Reilly, U.S. Navy, she had begun college at the age of thirteen, graduating from medical school at the age of 20, and spent the next four years in a residency with the United States Navy. That is until she left the Navy to become part of the SGC six years ago, and now she has chosen to come to Atlantis.

Wrinkling her forehead slightly Elizabeth glanced over at Col. Caldwell who was slowly tapping his fingers on the table with one hand and rubbing his temple with the other.

"Are Col. Sheppard and Dr. Beckett even aware that their presence is required for this meeting," Col. Caldwell asks clearly annoyed.

Elizabeth smiles placidly at him, "I'm sure they'll be here any minute, as you can imagine it does get rather busy around here when a new group comes in. I mean just getting everyone into quarters is a logistical nightmare."

Out of the corner of her eye Elizabeth saw Dr. Reilly break into a big smile and then move to cover her mouth with her hand and Elizabeth turns to look at her curiously.

"It's alright Dr. Weir," Sarah says sweetly, "I can only imagine you have people annoying you with requests like," breaking into a very dramatic tone of voice, "'I want a room with a view of the ocean, but I also want to get the sun in the morning but not to much sun, you got anything like that'."

Elizabeth is trying desperately not to laugh at how accurately Dr. Reilly had described more than one request she had been subjected to. Suddenly from the doorway Elizabeth hears Lt. Col. John Sheppard say, "wow, it's like she's channeling McKay when we were trying to find him quarters."

Liz finally loses the battle with her laughter at John's quip. John steps inside the conference quickly followed by Dr. Carson Beckett, "sorry we're late," states Carson in that Scottish brogue of his.

The late arrivals quickly spots the beautiful young doctor, who is standing to greet them, "hi, I'm Col. Sheppard," "I'm Dr. Beckett," they both say at the same time extending their hands out to shake hers.

Sarah's eyes flick between the two men in front of her, though out of the corner of her eye she sees Dr. Weir roll her eyes at them. Allowing a pleasant smile to curl her lips Sarah extends her hand to the two men as well, "it's very nice to meet you Col. Sheppard and Dr. Beckett, I'm Dr. Sarah Reilly."

Recognition suddenly registers on Carson's face, "Dr. Sarah Reilly… you didn't write that paper on 'Disease and the Human Immune System' did you?"

Sarah's smiles gets a little bigger, "as a matter of fact yes I did. I wrote that years ago, I'm surprised anyone even remembers it."

Carson smiles brightly at Sarah showing off his dimples, "well of course I remember, it was absolutely brilliant." Eyeing her for a moment Carson continues, "even though I wasn't informed of it, if you're here to join my staff I'm quite pleased."

Sarah's smile never wavering, "I'm truly flattered Dr. Beckett; however, I'm afraid that I won't be joining your staff, though I'm sure we will be working together on occasion."

Carson opened his mouth to say something else but just then Col. Caldwell says in that gruff way of his, "Doctors, please there will be time for you to talk later but right now I'd like to get this meeting out of the way."

Sarah turns back to the Colonel smiling softly, "of course Col. Caldwell I know you're anxious to get back to the Deadalus so I'll try to make this meeting as quick as possible," turning back to John and Carson, "please gentlemen sit."

After everyone is seated Col. Caldwell starts, "I'm sure everyone is wondering why they were called to this meeting," opening up an electronic file on his lap top, "as you all know six months ago Atlantis was very nearly destroyed when a Goa'uld infiltrated this base and planted a bomb and very nearly exposed the existence of this city to the wraith." Everyone nodded their understanding, "well," continues Col. Caldwell, "Dr. Reilly has been assigned to the Deadalus as the new CMO in an effort to circumvent any further Goa'uld interference within this base."

The other three people in the room look quite confused, and Sarah bites her lip lightly as everyone turn to look at her.

"Maybe I missed something in that little history lesson but how exactly are you going to 'circumvent' the Goa'uld, Dr. Reilly?" asked Lt. Col. Sheppard in his usual sarcastic tone.

Sarah allows a small nervous smile to curve her lips before answering, "in a nutshell… I'm host to a Tok'ra, and we will be monitoring all the new personnel for any Goa'uld infestation before they arrive here on Atlantis."

Col. Caldwell flashes an uncharacteristic smile, "very subtle, Doctor."

Sarah smiles brightly at the Colonel's jab, responding with a "thank you," while everyone else just sit there trying to process what they have just heard.

Elizabeth is the first to recover, "you're a host to a Tok'ra," she says more like a question than a statement.

A gentle smile comes to Sarah's face, "yes… for more than three years now."

For the rest of the meeting it was explained that Dr. Reilly and her symbiote Ashatsinu (Ash) had been assigned by the high council to assist the Tauri now that the majority of the Goa'uld had been effectively defeated. However, her true nature would be kept a secret as not to tip off the Goa'uld that they could be exposed and the only ones who would know were the five people in that room, the president and General Landry.

The subject of what would be done when the newest battle cruiser the Odyssey was due to be completed within the year and that Sarah would at that point be transferred to the city to work under Dr. Beckett at that time. Even though it wouldn't be as effective as catching the Goa'uld before they left Earth and as much as the SGC wished she could Sarah couldn't be in more than one place at a time and the high council was unwilling to assign any more operatives at this time.


	2. Unexpected

Secrets

Stargate Atlantis

By: SNBRADY

Pairings: Carson/Cadman, Bates/OC

Summary: A new arrival to Atlantis has a secret she's not sure she can keep.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters. I only own Dr. Sarah Reilly.

Unexpected

Once the meeting was concluded Col. Caldwell returned to the Deadalus, while Sarah stayed on Atlantis so that Dr. Beckett could show her some of the Ancient medical equipment that they had discovered. Sarah was excited about getting her hands on the new technology, though she knew part of her excitement was because Ash's affinity toward engineering had rubbed off on her.

As they stepped into the empty med lab Carson saw Sarah's eyes grow a little wider and a huge grin curve her lips, before she launched into a string of probing questions about the technology. Unfortunately most of Sarah and Ash's questions were a bit to technical for the Scottish doctor but Sarah seemed to eventually figure out the answers for herself. Carson guessed that having Ash's thousand years of technological expertise to back you up was probably rather helpful at times. Carson couldn't help wondering what would have brought Dr. Reilly to allow another being to share her body, 'had she been sick or was she injured', he decided; however, it was probably to personal of a question to ask and just tried to focus on their task.

After a few hours Carson found himself staring at Dr. Reilly while she and Ash were trying to figure out one of the objects that had yet to be understood by the Atlantis scientists. He couldn't help thinking that Sarah was nothing of what he had expected her to be she was very smart, no surprises there, but she was also very funny with a rather sunny disposition, but underneath that he could see the maturity and strength in her as well, and he wondered if that was her or the Tok'ra coming through.

Carson had always imagined that a Tok'ra host would be somewhat scattered, since they would have to deal with two consciousnesses inside their head. The experience that Rodney had, with having Laura's consciousness in his head had almost sent him over the edge, but maybe that was just Rodney. In his opinion Sarah was probably one of the most well adjusted and balanced people he had ever met, definitely not what he was expecting.

Carson snapped out of his musing when he suddenly realized that Sarah had said something to him, "what I'm sorry I wasn't listening," Carson said embarrassed that he had been caught staring at her the way he was.

Sarah just gave him a little smile, "I asked if you could hand me that scanner next to you."

Looking next to him Carson immediately saw the scanner she wanted, "here you go," he says gently handing it to her.

Sarah immediately goes back to working on the device, without even looking up she says, "so doctor are you going to ask me or just sit there staring at me until I'm finished?"

Carson hesitates for a moment, "how… how did it happen? You and Ash I mean." Sarah's hands still over her work, as she looks up at him, her expression is serious, pained even.

Drawing in a deep breath she begins her story, "three years ago I was assigned to a Tok'ra base as the doctor to the SGC personnel stationed there," a small sad smile suddenly creases her lips, "but of course I wasn't content just treating the soldiers minor injuries. I wanted to learn everything I could from the Tok'ra about their forms of medicine, so someone introduced me to Ash and her host Ballen and we all became good friends." Sarah eyes started to grow sad as she continues, "I had been at the base for nearly three months when it was attacked by Anubis's forces… Ash and I were headed to the gate to escape when an explosion went off above us and crystals started falling from the ceiling. I took a couple of hits on my right side before Ash pushed me out of the way. I was unconscious for a few minutes and when I came around…" Pausing for a moment Sarah has to take a deep breath before she can continue, "Ash and Ballen were trapped under several crystals, I tried to get them out… but there wasn't enough time, Ballen was dieing and there was nothing I could do to stop it. So, I did the only thing I could do, I offered to take Ash into me to save her… she most likely saved my life that day it only seemed right to return the favor. Well that's my story, so now you know… is it what you expected?"

Carson blinked a few times before he could even bring himself to answer, "no…it wasn't what I was expecting but then nothing about ye has been what I expected."

Sarah smirks slightly before asking, "is that good or bad, Dr. Beckett?"

Carson breaks into grin, "it's good, very good."

Sarah smiles back brightly, "good," holding up the device she had been working on triumphantly, "I think I know what this is."

Looking a little shocked but never losing his smile, "wonderful, well what t'is the bloody thing? We've been trying to figure it out for months!"

Sarah laughs a little at Carson's outburst, "We're almost positive that it is the Ancient version of a Goa'uld healing device and I imagine that if this is as difficult to master as a regular healing device, I'm going to have to help you with it."

Carson's eyes light up at the idea of it being a healing device, "that would be fantastic if that is what it t'is, when can ye start helping me with it."

Sarah stands up and holds out her hand to Carson, "right after we get something to eat, I'm starving." Carson and Sarah both laugh when Carson's stomach makes its own reply to her suggestion of food.

Sarah and Carson sit down at a table in the corner to eat lunch in the cafeteria as others hustled around grabbing a quick bit to eat before returning to their duties. They eat their food as Sarah tries to describe to Carson the intricacies of operating a healing device, mostly the process of focusing your mind while using it.

"You have to focus all of your energy on imagining the damage being repaired, so of course since you understand anatomy and physiology it should be easier. Honestly I'm hoping this Ancient one is easier to master than the…"

Sarah quickly trails off when Ash announces that there are people standing next the table, _"Sarah shut up! There are people." _

Looking up Sarah sees that there are in fact two people there, both appeared to be military, there was a pretty young woman with strawberry blonde hair that is pulled up in a tight braid and a very handsome young man with curly dark hair and the most intense brown eyes staring back into her own emerald green ones.

"_Wow, what a hottie,"_ Sarah heard her own thought about the man echoed through Ash's voice inside her head. At the moment Sarah had to fight back a smile at Ash's use of a very Tauri term, that she had unfortunately learned from Sarah herself.

Carson looks up at the two newcomers; a smile comes to his face when he sees that one of them is Lt. Laura Cadman, his girlfriend and that the other is Sgt. Christopher Bates, who had just returned to Atlantis a few months earlier.

Laura smiles at Carson, "hey, those seats taken," she asks indicating the other two seats at the table.

Carson quickly looks at Sarah to see if she is ok with the others joining them, only to realize that she and Sgt. Bates haven't stopped staring at each other yet, "Dr. Reilly," he says questioningly.

Sarah snaps out of her trance, "oh… yes of course please join us."

Laura quickly snatches up the seat next to Carson, leaving the one next to Sarah for Sgt. Bates to sit in. As Laura is sitting down she leans close to Carson and whispers, "did you see that look?"

Trying desperately not to act embarrassed Carson whispers back, "I sure did."

As soon as everyone is sitting down, Carson just sat there looking uncomfortable until Laura gave him a little kick under the table. "Ow," Carson looks at Laura who has a mischievous little smile on her face.

"So are you going to introduce us to your new friend," Laura asks never losing her smile

Meanwhile, Sarah has to hide her own smile behind her hand, _"oh those two are doing it,"_ Ash says to her, making Sarah bite back a laugh. Sarah knew that Ash was right though; Dr. Beckett and the young woman had that sort of casual familiarity, indicative of people who knew each other intimately.

Quickly recovering Carson proceeds to introduce them, "Dr. Sarah Reilly, this is Lt. Laura Cadman and Sgt. Christopher Bates, they're part of our security force her on Atlantis."

Sarah smiles at both of them, "it's very nice to meet both of you."

Sgt. Bates speaks for the first time since they'd met, "Dr. Reilly… did you just arrive with the new batch of recruits from the Deadalus?"

Sarah can't help but smile at him, he has a great voice, it is smooth and confident, "yes but… actually I'm part of the Deadalus's crew."

Sgt. Bates looks disappointed for a moment but then smiles at her, "oh… well then since you are only visiting us, what do you think of Atlantis so far?"

Smiling back Sarah answers, "well I haven't seen much of it outside of the medical lab yet, but what I have seen seems rather impressive."

Laura cuts in, "I'd be happy to give you a tour if you'd like, you should see the view from the balconies that overlook the city, they're amazing."

Sarah smiles at her, "I appreciate the offer Lt. Cadman, unfortunately I'm tied up being a lab rat for the next couple of days, but the Deadalus is scheduled to be in orbit for at least a week so… just let me know when you're available after that."

Laura's eyes light up, "hey if you're going to be here for a week you should come to our welcome party we always have one when new recruits arrive, it's on Thursday and it'll be fun I promise."

Sarah was a little surprised by the invitation, "oh umm…" reaching into her mind Sarah asks, _"hey Ash, do you want to go to a party."_

The answer came quickly, _"absolutely, we never have any fun anymore, let's go; besides I wouldn't mind seeing Sgt. Bates again, he's really cute."_

A big smile comes to Sarah's face because of Ash's answer and also because of the nervous little knot that has settled in her stomach at the thought of Sgt. Bates, "sure I'd love to come, I could probably use a little fun before we make the long trip back to Earth."

A huge grin crosses Laura's face, "excellent… so what are you thinking about wearing?"

Sgt. Bates laughs out loud as he looks over at Dr. Beckett, "uh oh, Doc we're in trouble now… the girl talk has started."

Laura and Sarah laugh at the Sergeant's quip, while Carson just looks at Sgt. Bates and says jokingly, "maybe we should sit somewhere else?" his statement making the two women laugh even harder.

Laura and Sarah hit it off almost immediately chatting away at each other about all of the interesting sights to see in Atlantis and agreeing to get together a few days later. After they had finished up a pleasant lunch, the two groups went their separate ways the scientists returned to the lab to work on their projects, while the soldiers went back to protecting the Ancient city.

Reviews:

Natalie J: I have my reasons for making her "sue-ish". Basically I think the fact that she is already considered freakishly intelligent, will cut down on people asking to many questions when she uses Ash's thousand years worth of knowledge all of a sudden. It might actually make it appear normal for her.


	3. The Ocean and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters, I just like to have fun with them.

Authors notes: This chapter is designed to show Sgt. Bates softer more easy going side that he doesn't show that often and it sets up the mood for his and Sarah's relationship. So please take everything in that context. It also gives a more indepth look at what the relationship between Sarah and Ash is like, basically I feel like Ash is Sarah's source of confidence and that will be revealed in later chapters.

The Ocean and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thursday evening found Dr. Sarah Reilly quietly leaning against the railing on one of the city's balconies that overlooked the ocean as the warm orange glow of the Atlantis sunset washed over her. The salty smell of the sea filled her senses stirring memories of the younger years of her life on Earth to the surface of her mind. Ash was being uncharacteristically quiet at the moment letting Sarah reminisce without interruption.

Suddenly from behind her, Sarah heard someone clear their throat, quickly turning around she stiffened in surprise for a moment, before her heart started to beat wildly. Standing there was Sgt. Bates looking very handsome wearing a dark blue button down shirt, un-tucked, and with the sleeves rolled up, over a pair of faded blue jeans. He smiled at her in that quietly confident way of his, "hey Doc, what are you doing out here? The party's down the hall."

Sarah smiles nervously as she rubs the back of her neck, _"oh good God, Ash what do I say? And could you help with the pounding heart thing!" _

Sarah could hear her symbiotes little chuckle inside her head, _"just tell him the truth that you were enjoying the view and for God's sake just calm down."_

Drawing in a deep breath Sarah finally speaks, "oh, hi Sgt. Bates, I was just enjoying the view… and the smell." She added as an after thought, _"smell, what are you doing?"_

Bates looked at her curiously, "smell?"

Ignoring Ash, Sarah points out towards the water, "of the ocean,"she says as though it should have been obvious.

The young Sergeant smiles at her as he makes his way over to stand a few feet away, leaning against the railing, he asks, "so you like the ocean?"

Without a moments hesitation Sarah answers, "yeah I love the ocean." Not even thinking about it she lets out a sad little chuckle and turns back towards the view before continuing. "and I sort of hate it too and ironically for the same reason… it makes me think of home."

Sarah could hear Ash grumbling, _"oh well that's not a depressing subject to bring up with someone stuck in a galaxy far away from their family, you're going to scare him off."_

Sgt. Bates had grown very quiet while Ash was mentally scolding Sarah but suddenly he spoke barely above a whisper, "chocolate chip cookies." Sarah turned a looked at him curiously, he was still looking out at the view, a sad little smile curved his lips as he continued his thought, "my grandmother used to make chocolate chip cookies for me and my brother, she raised us after our mom died and everyday after school she'd have fresh made chocolate chip cookies and milk waiting for us." Letting out a short laugh the Sergeant finally looks at Sarah, "honestly it got to the point where we got sick and tired of them." Sarah couldn't help but smile at his statement, "but of course we still ate them because Grandma made them for us… she died a couple years ago and now every time I smell chocolate chip cookies it make me think about her… and my little brother."

Sarah worried her lip for a moment, as Ash speaks to her, _"wow, he's actually kind of… deep."_

Sarah swallowed as Ash's words resounded in her head, knowing she needed to say something, "that's a really nice story," a smile lit up in her eyes, "so do you still hate them?"

Sgt. Bates looks a little surprised by the question for a second but then a little smile comes to his lips, "chocolate chip cookies… yeah."

They share a chuckle, then Sarah asks, "so you said you have a brother what's he like?"

The Sergeant again looks a bit surprised, "oh…well um… he's a good kid. Well actually I guess Matt's not really a kid anymore, he's a junior in college now." A big smile comes across Bates face, "he's going to be an architect and he and his girlfriend aretalking aboutgetting married after graduation. I'm hoping to get some leave to go back for the wedding but we'll see. What about you any brothers or sisters?"

Sarah found herself smiling at the proud way that the Sergeant talked about his brother, it made her think about her own brothers, "it sounds like you're real proud of him… and in fact I have three brothers, Josh, Brian and Andy. And they are evil, especially when it comes to practical jokes but I love them anyway."

Sgt. Bates found himself laughing at how much that reminded him of himself and his brother, "you're all pretty close then," Sarah nods, "my brother and I are the same way, you should have seen some of the practical jokes we pulled on each other, but like you said we both knew that no matter how much we might act like we hated each other, at the end of the day I still loved the little brat."

Sarah lets out a little laugh before her mouth settles into a playful little smirk, "So what kind of practical jokes because I bet you Sergeant that the stuff my brothers and I pulled will blow yours away, we Reilly's are a rather creative bunch."

Bates smirks back at her, "a challenge doctor, well I'll accept and… you should really just call me Chris."

Sarah's face brakes into a huge grin, "then you should call me Sarah and I dare you to give it your best shot."

For the next two hours Chris and Sarah sat on the balcony talking and laughing at each others stories. At the end of their competition over who pulled the worse practical joke Sarah had won hands down, when she told him the story of how she and her brother Andy set up their older brothers by having Sarah fake a head injury while they were on a camping trip by using real blood thatAndy had drawn out of her arm.

By the end of those two hours there was no doubt in Chris's mind Sarah was nuts but a good kind of nuts, funny and she had this sort of evil mastermind thing going. "Well, so now I know about all of the mayhem you and your brothers caused as kids, what are they like now?" Chris found himself asking her.

A big smile comes to Sarah's face, "well my two oldest brothers are both in the Navy just like our Dad, Josh and his wife Mary, have two boys, they're stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. Brian is stationed in Hawaii and loving it, since he's still single but he's got a few years left before we'll start to actually worry. However, then there's Andy, he is a doctor like me, actually we went to med school together, our brother's claim the two of us got all the brains in the family. Andy decided that the military wasn't for him, so he works at a little pediatric hospital in Huston, Texas and well apparently Andy's wife doesn't get a lot of sleep. He and Christine have been married for six years and already have four children."

Chris's mouth drops open in surprise, "wow four kids in six years, are they going for a record or something."

Sarah starts laughing, "I know we'll get together for holidays and stuff and every time I see the poor woman she has a belly full of baby. The last time I saw them I walked in looked at her and just turned to my brother and said, 'good GAWD Andy, you knocked her up again! You're a doctor, you're suppose to know how that happens'." Chris starts dying laughing, "that's not even the funniest part, Andy's rebuttal to that was to say, 'it's not my fault she can't keep her hands off me'."

Chris laughs for a minute, before rolling his eyes, "yeah I'm sure that's the problem."

Sarah went on the tell Chris all about her childhood, how she had always moved every two or three years when she was little and how it was always near the ocean since her Dad was in the Navy and that's why the smell had reminded her of home. Sarah's Dad had been a submarine captain when she was a kid so she didn't get to see that much of him while she was growing up. She told him that she thought that her mother was probably one of the strongest people she knew; since she'd raised Sarah and her brothers pretty much on her own since their Dad was always gone.

Chris told Sarah about growing up in L.A. and about his grandma and his little brother, Matt. He even opened up enough to tell her about how his Dad had been a Marine like him but he had been killed in combat when Chris was nine, and Matt was only a year old. Then when Chris was eleven his Mom, who had been a teacher, got cancer and that's when he and Matt ended up living with their grandma. By the time Chris had finished telling her about his family, Sarah felt so bad for him, Chris had been through so much. Now the only real family he had left was his brother and here he was a galaxy away from him, it must be so hard. Sarah found herself, wanting to give him a big hug but she realized that she didn't really know him that well and it might make him uncomfortable.

Also things might get a little to interesting if she tried, at some point during their talk they had decided to sit down. Then they started to get even more comfortable so now Sarah found herself laying on her side propped up on her elbow with Chris lying opposite her in an almost mirrored position and even though they had become very comfortable talking with each other they had yet to actually touch.

Thankfully Ash suggested a way to change the subject, "so why did you decide to become a Marine, was it because of your Dad?" Sarah asked.

Chris thought about it for a moment, "yes and no, I joined because I wanted to go to college but I chose the Marines because that was the branch my Dad had served in. Only then I got assigned to the SGC and found that I didn't want to leave it when my time came, so I re-uped and now here I am," adding sarcastically, "I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time."

A soft chuckle left her mouth before she asks, "so what was your major going to be?"

Chris looks a little embarrassed for a moment, before answering sheepishly, "my major… was going to be English Education with a minor in Literature."

Sarah's eyes widened when she realized what he had just told her, "you were going to be teacher!"

Chris chuckles at her response, "yeah but somehow once you've been shot across the galaxy through a wormhole, teaching a bunch of kids the proper use of a semi-colon somehow loses it's appeal a little."

Suddenly Sarah has to fight back a fit of giggles when Ash pushes into her mind an image of a room full of little girls, looking all moony over Chris.

Chris eyes her suspiciously, "what?"

Finally regaining her composure somewhat but still with a huge grin on her face she answers, "it's just that I suddenly got a mental picture of a room full of little girls sitting at their desks trying to look all cute and innocent while they're batting their eyelashes at you." Chris starts laughing as a response, and Sarah just rolls her eyes at him, "oh come on just think about it your young and a good looking guy, most of the girls would probably have huge crushes on you and I imagine a good chunk of the teachers. Hopefully only the female ones though right," Sarah couldn't help adding that last bit with a mischievous grin on her face.

Her statement seemed to have the desired effect when Chris started laughing even harder, and Sarah joined in for a minute or two, finding his laughter to be very infectious. They finally regained their composure, and Chris just smiles nervously at her before asking, "so would you?"

Sarah feels confused for a second, but then Ash chimes in _"would you have a crush on him, silly?" _Sarah feels her cheeks warm up in a blush, as she realizes that is what he meant.

Biting down nervously on her lip for a second, "I think that back when I was young and immature I might have had a little crush on you… but now that I all grown up I think."

Swallowing nervously, _"oh God I can't believe I'm about to say this, Ash. Should I even say this, what if he doesn't fell the same way?"_

Sarah could feel her heart pounding in her chest, as Ash answers her, _"Sarah he just asked you if you'd have a crush on him I think it's safe to say he likes you, you should definitely say it, and if you don't I will because I'm really starting to like him, too."_

Chris didn't think his heart could pound any faster than it had been while he was waiting for Sarah to finish her thought. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her, she was just so beautiful. Sarah was a slender woman but curvy in all the right places, she was wearing these black pants that fit her a little to well for Chris's comfort and the tight green top she had on was a perfect compliment to her eyes, he could swear that the color was actually making them look even more like bright sparkly emeralds. Then there was her hair it had fallen to one side as she leaned on her elbow and her fingers were all tangled into the mess of dark copper curls. But the thing that kept his attention the most was her mouth. Sarah's lips were probably about the most perfect he'd ever seen, they were full and pink and looked extremely kissable.

Chris wanted to kiss her so bad at that moment he could almost taste it. It wouldn't be difficult she lay only about a foot away from him he could easily reach out and capture her mouth in a second, but he didn't know if she wanted him to. However, if she didn't finish answering him soon he might very well lose his control and do just that. But then she finally took in a deep breath and the words that slipped quietly from those two perfect pink rose petal lips made the wait totally worth it, "I think that now… I have a very BIG crush on you."

Chris's face broke into a relief laden grin as he blew out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, "really?"

He was wrong his heart could definitely beat faster and apparently his hand had developed a mind of it's own as it came up to caress Sarah's cheek. Chris felt the ragged breath that escaped Sarah's lips as his thumb rubbed over the silky soft flesh, like an unspoken question. He barely heard the soft whisper of his name escape her mouth, but that was all it took. Before Chris could even think about what he was doing he'd leaned over to capture her mouth in a passionate embrace.

Reviews:

NatalieJ: Yey Bates! hehe, and since you love our security guys so much I may have to add Major Lorne in there later, and what do you think his first name should be?


	4. Bad Timing

Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters, I just have fun with them.

Authors notes: This chapter is a set up for the events of chapter 5 after which things should get pretty interesting.

Bad Timing

Sarah's mind barely registers the soft sigh that escapes her lips as Chris's sweep over hers, or the way her eyes instinctually flutter shut, the only thing her mind can register is how right this feels.

Chris's kisses are a lot like him warm and passionate and… wonderful, and they make her feel as if every inch of her skin has suddenly developed goose bumps. The tingly sensation that sweeps over her as his fingers finally find their way into the soft thick curls of her hair, makes her shiver involuntarily.

Sarah begins to hear a low purring noise permeate her mind; obviously she isn't the only one enjoying Chris's attention and the purring quickly grows louder and more erratic as Chris's tongue gently slides across Sarah's lips silently asking permission to enter her mouth. With a little whimper Sarah's lips part for him, and Chris responds with a soft moan of his own as he deepens the kiss, his tongue slowly sliding into her mouth.

Sarah's fingers have apparently developed a mind of her own, as they curled into the soft fabric of Chris's shirt and begin gently pulling at it desperately wanting him closer. Chris is more than happy to oblige, shifting his weight to line up their bodies and she feels as if all of the warmth that seems to be coming off of Chris in waves is becoming concentrated in her chest and then slowly spreading outward to the rest of her body.

Sarah doesn't even feel it when her mind lets go, and hers and Ash's minds begin to blend together. It doesn't take much for Ash to get the baser more primal part of Sarah's brain to take over completely and she unconsciously begins to pull Chris even closer to her.

She is unsure how much time has passed since Chris begun kissing her but off in the distance Sarah thinks she hears her name being called. However, her mind just can't seem to focus on anything but the strong, warm hand running down her back and over her hip or the way that same hand is making shivers run down her spine, also there is the unimaginably intimate sensation of having Ash's thoughts and emotion swirling within her own, but then suddenly Chris pulls away from her with a gasp.

"You'd better go," Chris manages to get out in between ragged breaths.

Sarah just blinks up at him, "what?" she asks obviously not understanding why he would want her to go.

Chris gives her a little smile, but before he can answer the city wide P.A. system repeats the message it had announced only moments earlier, "medical emergency, Dr. Reilly please report to the infirmary."

Sarah's eyes widen in shock, "oh no!… well their timing sucks," she says in frustration, as she pushed Chris off of her and begins to disentangle her arms and legs from his. _'Wait! When did I end up on my back,'_ Sarah asks Ash, not remembering how they'd gotten like that.

Sarah felt a little wave of guilt come from her symbiote, _'I… may… have had something to do with that, but we don't have time to worry about who did what right now, we have to go save a life,'_ Ash replies quickly in hope of focusing Sarah's annoyance away from herself.

Sarah manages to stifle the annoyed little growl, she wants to make at Ash aka the horny little pain in the neck, and pun is so totally intended in that title.

She is up on her knees getting ready to stand by the time Ash has finished with her confession, when she feels Chris grab her arm.

Sarah find herself looking down into worried looking deep brown eyes, "this wasn't just a one time thing, right?"

The question takes both Sarah and Ash, so by surprise that all they can do was blink at him, for a few seconds but then suddenly a soft, "no," slips from Sarah's lips.

'_Ash did you just say that, or did I,'_ Sarah asks her symbiote.

'_I think we both did,'_ Ash responds back in just as much shock.

Chris found himself smiling in relief, even though Sarah still looked like she'd been hit by a truck. Suddenly remembering that she needed to be somewhere else Chris reminds her, "Sarah you'd better get going."

That seemed to snap her out of her shock, "right I… I'll see you later," to his surprise Sarah leans over to catch his lips in one more quick kiss and gives him a little smile before bolting for the door.

Chris smiles as he watches Sarah run past the window and down the hall toward the transporter.

Not quite ready to leave the section of balcony where he had just minutes ago been tangled in a passionate embrace with his beautiful Sarah, Chris reaches out his hand feeling the ground, and it is still warm from where her body had been pressed under his. Shifting onto his back, Chris moves himself over the spot placing one hand behind his head and the other over his chest feeling as his heart beat slowly returns to normal.

Chris's mindbecomes filled with thoughts of Sarah, her intelligence, her grace, her beauty, that quirky sense of humor, how easy she is to open up to and how passionate she had been when they were kissing and there were those odd and yet incredibly sexy little purring noises she had started making while they were kissing.

Taking in a deep breath Chris stares up at the blanket of stars spread over the inky blackness of the Atlantian night, "I think I'm in love," the words slip from his lips in a whisper, as a grin comes across his face.

Meanwhile Sarah had just arrived at the infirmary there was quite a commotion at the back in a curtained off area, immediately Sarah saw Dr. Leslie Novak jump up from the chair she was sitting in near the entrance.

"Thank God, Dr. Reilly, please hurry you have to help him," Leslie says in a rushed breath.

Not even waiting for an explanation to Leslie's statement, Sarah rushes to the back of the infirmary, Hermiod the Asgard assigned to the Deadalus is lying on an exam table unconscious. Dr. Weir, and Col. Caldwell are standing off to the side of the table and Dr. Beckett is trying to take Hermiod's vitals.

Not wasting time Sarah immediately addresses Carson, "Dr. Beckett what happened?"

Carson looks up at Sarah with big fearful eyes, "I don't know, he was fine, then suddenly he said that he felt woosie and before I could do anything he was on the ground."

Sarah grabs up a stethoscope and a pair of gloves, "did he eat anything out of the ordinary?" she asks as she is pulling on the gloves.

"Not that I know of," Carson answers pulling away to give Sarah access to one of the monitors checking Hermiods heart rate.

"Who was with him tonight?" Sarah asks looking at the monitor.

"I was," comes a small worried voice from near the entrance of the curtain.

Turning Sarah sees Leslie staring at the bed holding the unconscious alien, she looks as if she's about to burst into tears, "Leslie I need to know did he eat or drink anything out of the ordinary?"

Pushing out a labored breath Leslie answers, "no nothing that he hasn't had before, he's always so careful with that sort of thing." Leslie looks at Sarah eyes shining from barely controlled tears, and asks in a trembling voice, "is-is he going to be alright?"

Sarah looks at her with a well school expressionless face, "it's to soon to tell but he doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger, and we'll do everything that we can, I promise." Sarah casts a glance toward Dr. Weir, "I think we should contact the Asgard, admittedly I know the most about their physiology out of anyone here but I am far from an expert." Dr. Weir nods quickly before walking away to issue the order, while Sarah turns back to Carson, "in the meantime, Dr. Beckett I want to get blood work started and then get going on some scans."


	5. Tired

Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or any of it's characters.

A/N: Sorry so long on the update, my husband decided to rebuild his computer but then once he'd taken it apart realized he was missing an important part, so he commandeered my computer and then I decided this chapter had to be completely rewritten, authors prerogative. Hope you all like this chapter, the end is a really shocker.

Tired

Sarah rubs her eyes as she looks through the scans taken of Hermiod, she and Ash had been up all night running lab tests and recalibrating the Ancient scanners to work for Asgard physiology. Going through the scans was long, time consuming work but they were hopeful that what they found in them would explain Hermiod's sudden collapse.

_"You're tired,"_ Ash says quietly to Sarah as she continues to look at her computer screen.

_"A little,"_ Sarah answers back, hearing the worry in her friend's voice.

_"You should get some rest,"_ Ash says in a patient tone, _"I could take over for a while and you could sleep, I'd just use your voice if I have to talk to anyone."_

Sarah couldn't help the little smile that came to her lips at Ash's concern for her well being, _"I don't think I could sleep right now anyway, I'm to worried about Hermiod."_

Sarah could hear the mischievous tone in Ash's voice this time, _"besides I think you're also worried that you'll have naughty dreams about a certain handsome young Marine."_

Sarah was very glad that no one was around to hear the little laugh that escaped her mouth at that moment, _"no that would be a reason to go to sleep."_

Ash chuckled at her host's response, _"I think I'm finally starting to rub off on you... I know we haven't had the chance to talk about it but how do you feel about Chris because personally I really like him."_

Ash was making it impossibly hard for Sarah to keep her mind on the scans in front of her, _"yes I like him too, he's so smart and funny."_

_"Not to mention very sexy," _Ash adds, making Sarah smile.

_"And a really good kisser too,"_ Sarah says dreamily as her mind begins to wander back to last night. However, she quickly snaps out of those thoughts when she hears the door to the lab open behind her, _"damn it Ash why did you get me thinking about Chris, we're suppose to be working."_

_"You know you don't always have to be so practical," _Ash says with a huff.

"Have ye found anything yet," Carson asks as he comes to stand behind Sarah and she looks up at him.

"Unfortunately no not yet, I was hoping that we'd find something by now," Sarah says to Carson.

"You've been in here all night, why don't you take a break, go down to the mess hall get some breakfast, have some coffee," Carson suggests, "I'll continue looking through the scans if ye want, besides ye look pretty tired."

_"What do you think he'd say if we told him to bite us?"_ Ash asks clearly annoyed that Carson would suggest that they looked tired.

A little smile comes to Sarah's lips, _"I don't think I'm the only one who's tired, you're being kind of snappy."_ Sarah quickly transitions into speaking with Carson before Ash can respond, "that's probably a good idea Carson, I am a little tired and a little time away from the computer might do me some good."

_"Well at least you left me out of it, sorry if I snapped it's just well… maybe I am tired but you know I don't like it when people make any kind of negative comment about your appearance," _Ash says trying to explain her response.

Sarah gets up from her seat letting Carson sit down, "thanks Carson I'll be back in a while, call me if you find anything interesting," she says to him before addressing Ash's comment, _"it's alright Ash, you know you don't have to get so worked up over a little comment like that he's just concerned about our health."_

Sarah pauses atthe small mirror that's set upat the front of the lab near the door, and can't help but smile at her reflection, no wonder Carson had said she looked tired, she had total bed hair. Sarah's curls had gone completely array sticking up in several different directions, quickly she fished a ponytail holder from her pocket and began to pull her hair back.

_"Sarah… I'm sorry that I brought up the appearance thing I know it was something that was hard for you to get over,"_ Ash comments quietly.

Another little smile comes to Sarah's lips as she thinks back to how she would have looked at herself before blending with Ash, a chubby little geek, but now she can look at herself and see the beautiful curvy woman there that she'd never been able to see before, _"don't sweat it, my little pain in the neck,"_ she says as she lovingly touches the little bulge at the base of her skull as her hands come down after pulling up her hair.

Ash wiggles slightly in response to the caress of Sarah fingers, _"alright now if you're quite done feeling me up, can we go to breakfast."_

Sarah palms open the door of the lab a huge smile on her lips now, _"sure hey you never know maybe well run into Chris,"_ Sarah says her voice dripping with sarcasm.

_"And you say I'm the one with a one track mind,"_ Ash shots back with just as much sarcasm.

However, when Sarah and Ash arrive at the mess hall their eyes quickly catch sight of Chris sitting at a table with Lt. Laura Cadman and Lt. Col. John Sheppard.

_"Lets hurry up and grab breakfast and sit down with Chris,"_ Ash said excitedly to Sarah.

A little knot settled into Sarah's stomach, _"I don't know Ash can you hear what they are saying before we barge over there and interrupt some impromptu military meeting."_

Ash quickly made the adjustment so that Sarah could hear the conversation from way across the room, "you really like her don't you?" she heard Laura ask on of them.

There was a slight pause but then Sarah heard Chris say something that made her smile, "yes I like her." The host and symbiote continued to listen to the rest of the others conversation never losing their smiles the entire time before they walk over to join the others for breakfast.


	6. Gossip

Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or any of it's characters.

A/N: This chapter is the conversation that Sarah starts to hear at the end of Tired and I'm such a dork I forgot to fix the authors notes on the last chapter, the next chapter after this one is going to end with a big shock.

Casually strolling into the mess hall at 0600 hours Friday morning, Sgt. Chris Bates was in a very good mood. He quickly took to getting himself breakfast before his shift started, as he approached the food line he noticed that Lt. Col. John Sheppard was just ahead of him in line.

After a few moments Chris notices that Col. Sheppard keeps looking at him, "is there a problem, Sir?"

The Colonel's lips twitch up into a mischievous smirk, "new girlfriend, Bates?"

Chris's eyes widen, as an unintelligible, "ah," spills from his lips, "I'm not sure how exactly to answer that and how did you know?"

"You were humming and you had this very uncharacteristic little smile on your face," John says his smile getting a little bigger.

Just at that moment Lt. Laura Cadman walks up to the line to get breakfast, "morning Sir, Sgt. Bates," she says cheerfully, "how are you two today?"

"Well I'm quite sure I'm not doing as well as the Sergeant here," John says with his usual boyish grin.

Laura looks at Chris questioningly, "I met someone alright, it's no big deal," Chris says trying to hide his embarrassment.

However, Col. Sheppard decided to inform Laura with that same mischievous smirk as before, "he was humming."

Laura laughs out loud, "I guess that explains why neither of you showed up last night," she says her mouth settling into a grin.

Chris narrows his eyes at her, "you should mind your own business."

John and Laura start laughing, "you know who it is, alright Cadman spill, who's the woman that's put Bates into such high spirits."

Laura smiles at the Colonel, "sorry Sir, but if the Sergeant doesn't want you to know I think that I should respect his privacy," but she add sarcastically, "besides I can't imagine she'd want anyone to know she was crazy enough to be interested in him."

Chris glares at her, "uh thanks I do have some good qualities too you know and besides that would be like asking what does Dr. Beckett sees in you."

Laura just smiles at him, "I was just kidding and I see you've returned to your normal cheerful self. Besides I was there when you two met remember, I noticed the sparks between you."

Chris gets a slightly embarrassed look on his face, "could we just drop the subject of my love life please."

John and Laura fall silent for several moments, but then Laura can't stand the silence anymore, "so are you going to see her again?"

Chris lets out a frustrated little sigh, "Cadman I asked you to drop it."

Laura just gives him a sickly sweet smile, "you know Bates I checked the duty roster we're buddied up for security detail today and I can keep this up all day so I'd probably be easier for you to just answer my questions now."

Chris just looks over at John, "Sir seriously how did Dr. Mckay survive having her inside his head."

John just laughs as he walks away from the food line, Chris quickly walks over to an isolatedtable hoping to get away from Laura's annoying questions but of course she follows him and to his surprise Col. Sheppard comes along as well.

"Alright I know why she followed me over here but Sir come on my love life couldn't possibly be that interesting," Chris says as the other two sit down at the table.

Tilting his head to the side John contemplates Chris's statement for a moment, "actually there hasn't been any really good gossip recently, other than people speculating as to why that Asgard from the deadalus feinted last night, so you hooking up with a woman is actually pretty interesting."

Chris blinks at the news that Hermiod had fainted, "you're agossip and the Asgard feinted is he alright?"

"Haven't heard anything yet and nice try at changing the subject," Laura started, "and you still haven't answered my question are you going to see her again?"

A faint smile comes to Chris's lips, deciding it's just easier to give in than listen to her go on like this all day, "I don't know… but I hope so."

"You really like her don't you," Laura asks with a big smile.

Chris looks away trying to hide the sudden smile that develops on lips, quickly regaining his composure, "yes I like her."

"Excellent, so what did you two end up doing, since neither of you ever showed up at the party?" Laura asked still not losing her smile.

A little lopsided grin comes to Chris's features, "we just talked… for hours, actually it was really nice."

Laura smile proceeds to become a full fledged grin as she asks her next question, "so did you kiss her?"

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell," Chris says cryptically as he takes a bite of his eggs.

Laura's eyebrow raises at Chris's response, "so then you kissed her," she says more like a question than a statement. Chris doesn't respond he just continues to eat his eggs, "fine I'll just ask her myself when I go down to the infirmary later to see Carson, I'm sure she'll be there since Hermiod's sick."

John's eyes widen at Laura's statement, "you're seeing a scientist! I am so glad I sat down the gossip factor on this just shot up like 90 percent."

Chris shakes his head feeling slightly embarressed at the Colonel's outburst, "you might want to say that again a little louder Sir, I don't think they heard you all the way to the control room."

John opens his mouth to speak but stops short when suddenly someone near the table clears their throat making all three of the occupants look up, they'd been so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed the other presence.


	7. A Very Annoying Friendship

Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or any of it's characters.

Author's note: Sorry about the wait on an update, life's been well… life, and as such I haven't really had the chance to do any writing no matter how much I wanted to. Also I need a beta because I'm my own worst critic I'll write something and then go back and read it and be like, 'this sucks', makes for slow updates.

A Very Annoying Friendship

Sarah stood at the end of the table a little smile playing at the corners of her mouth, "that seat taken?" she asks indicating the empty seat right next to Chris.

Sarah notices the smile that Chris is fighting when he sees her standing there but a slightly nervous looking Col. Sheppard is the first to speak, "sure Dr. Reilly pull up a seat, any news on how the little Asgard's doing."

Sarah smiles slightly at the Colonel, his nervousness is almost amusing… almost, he'd clearly not gotten over the fact that she was a host. "He's stable but I'm afraid we haven't found anything out yet… and Colonel I wouldn't suggest you never call Hermiod 'the little Asgard' within his earshot 'cause you're liable to get kicked in the shin."

Chris and Laura both snicker at Sarah's jab while the Colonel responds, "I'll remember that."

"Probably a good plan," Sarah says sending the Colonel a sarcastic wink as she takes the seat next to Chris.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Chris asks Sarah as she finishes sitting.

She and Ash can easily hear the concern in his voice, _"we're still in our clothes from last night,"_ Ash says making Sarah look down at her self and indeed she was, though, they were relatively well hidden under her lab coat. _"At least we know he's observant,"_ Ash adds making Sarah smile a little.

"No, I've been in the lab all night running test and going through scans," Sarah says giving Chris a little smile, "actually I'm just taking a little break right now."

"Carson kicked you out didn't he?" Laura asks from the side a big smile on her face.

Pulling her attention from Chris, Sarah answers with a smile, "Sort of, he just offered to take over for me while I grabbed some breakfast, but I didn't exactly fight him on it, I am a bit tired."

"Maybe you should try and get some sleep too before you go back," Chris says the concern in his voice growing even more.

Sarah feels a little jolt of excitement come from her symbiote, _"well that clenches it he likes us, yay!"_

Ash's reaction makes Sarah smile even brighter unfortunately when she opens her mouth to respond, she gets cut off by Col. Sheppard, "you'll have to excuse the Sergeant, he's always been a bit overzealous about protecting everyone," Sheppard looks at Chris, and says in a disapproving tone, "come on Bates, I'm sure she's a big girl and perfectly capable of taking care of her self."

Sarah feels annoyance come from Ash, as she arches her eyebrow at the Colonel, and address him with a disapproving tone of her own, "you're right Colonel I am a big girl, and as such if I felt that Sgt. Bates was out of line I could tell him myself." Turning her attention away from Col. Sheppard and back to Chris, Sarah gives him a sweet smile, "however, as it stands I appreciate the concern but trust me this is not the first all nighter I've pulled and as interesting as ya'll here on Atlantis and the crew of the Deadalus keep things, I can pretty much guarantee it won't be my last."

Chris finds himself smiling at her response, she was just so cute the way she gave Sheppard a hard time, he wondered if she was always like this or just when she's tired. At that moment she sort of reminded him of Dr. Fraiser when she'd been alive, the Doc had this way of making you at ease when she was treating you but just like everyone else on the base knew she was the last person you wanted to piss off. A memory floated through his mind of his first day at the SGC when he was being escorted to the infirmary for his physical and the way his guide described the doctor, 'soft as silk and tough as nail all at the same time.'

"You're right, and I'm sure we've given Dr. Beckett more than a few sleepless nights," Chris says a little smile still on his face.

"Tell me about it," the other three people at the table turn to look at Laura, who's cheeks suddenly turn pink, "WHAT? Carson and me being together is not exactly a secret." A mischievous little smile comes to Laura's lips, turning the attention from her self she says, "speaking of people being together, how was your date last night Sarah?"

_"uh oh,"_ Sarah says quickly to her symbiote, while she eats a mouthful of her oatmeal.

_"I don't think this is going to end well,"_ Ash says back with a bit of sarcasm when Col. Sheppard starts coughing as though he'd swallowed wrong.

"You had a date!" John says much more loudly than he'd planned, lowering his voice when a few heads turn in there direction, "it's just that you know… that's a little surprising that you'd…"

Thinking quickly to cover the Colonel's apparent lack of tact Sarah says, "if you're referring to the guys from the Deadalus theory that I am either A: secretly a nun or B: secretly gay I can assure you that neither of those theories is true, I'm just not interested in any of them."

"Well I guess in the future I shouldn't take as much stock in the rumors I hear," John responded back trying to draw attention from the doctor and cursing himself for being so dumb.

_"Hey maybe he's not as thick headed as I thought, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to like him,"_ Ash states the annoyance with the Colonel still obvious in her voice.

However, Sarah doesn't miss a beat when she leans over a little to Lt. Cadman and says in a low pitched voice, "just so you're mentally prepared for this I'm going to hurt you later."

The threat; however, has little effect on the Lieutenant because she just starts chuckling at the doctors declaration, "yeah I'm sure you will," Laura says flippantly, "but I still want to know how your evening was and I want details if I'm going to have to endure a beating to find out."

Rolling her eyes at Laura, Sarah responds, "you know I do believe we have the makings of a very annoying friendship."

"_I know this is awkward with Chris sitting right here but just take a deep and answer the question, what's the worst that could happen I think we already know he's interested in us," _Ash says trying to calm her host a bit.

Taking the symbiotes advice Sarah takes a deep breath and answers, "it was nice."

Laura is clearly enjoying herself when she asks the next question, "so just nice?" Before Sarah can stop herself her face lights up with a big grin, "oh so better than nice?" Laura asks a mischievous twinkle shining in her eyes.

"Damn it," Sarah says through gritted teeth looking away from everyone as she tries to get the grin on her face under control, but then she feels a warm hand squeezes her knee. Sarah knows it's his hand there is no doubt as her mind begins reeling with memories of how those hands felt against her body last night. Biting down on her lip she chances a look at Chris he has this very hopeful look in those beautiful deep brown eyes of his. "Yes better than nice," Sarah finally answers her smile returning.

Sarah's thankful when Laura's squeal of delight distracts the Colonel long enough that he doesn't see the very intense look that passes between her and Chris, when she reaches down to squeeze the hand that's still on her knee.

Chris is able to keep himself relatively under control, even as his fingers begin to rub at the inside of Sarah's left knee. Clearing his throat a little Chris asks, "so you're planning on going out with this guy again?"

Clearly having no idea how that simple touch was affecting her Sarah had to stop Chris so that she could think enough to answer his question. Quickly closing her knees together, effectively stopping the motion, swallowing thickly Sarah begins, "well… I…" Before Sarah could finish her answer her ear was suddenly filled with the voice of Dr. Carson Beckett.


	8. No seriously, what?

Secrets

By: SNBRADY

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or any of it's characters.

A/N: Yay a new chapter, this one's a bit out there, hope ya'll enjoy.Oh and just so ya'll knowI'm a total review whore so they're really appreciated.

No seriously, what?

Chris watched as Sarah's expression changes from the little smile she'd been wearing almost continuously since she sat down, to a much more serious one. Worry began to creep into his mind as to weather she was suddenlyhaving second thoughts about becoming involved with him.

Holding up one of her fingers Sarah says to Chris, "just hold that thought for a second." Quickly her fingers sweep up behind her ear to tap on her headset, "this is Dr. Reilly, go ahead."

Chris felt a sense of relief wash over him, that is until Sarah says rather sharply a few moments later, "what!" Sarah's next question comes out somewhat skeptical, "like a seahorse?" It only takes a moment before she rolls her eyes, "never mind, I'm on my way."

Chris couldn't help but smile at Sarah's little nautical reference, though he was also intrigued as to what she meant by it. "Is everything ok?" Chris asks quickly taking his hand off Sarah's knee as she starts to stand.

"Don't know yet," Sarah answers looking a little flustered, "Colonel Sheppard you might want to come with me, Dr. Weir and Col. Caldwell will be meeting us there as well."

John's a bit taken back by the invitation, "ok," he says warily as he goes to follow Dr. Reilly.

Chris and Laura watch them leave the mess hall, "wonder what that was all about?" Laura says turning to Chris.

"I imagine it has something to do with Hermiod," Chris states returning his attention to his now cold breakfast.

"That's not exactly what I meant," Laura says suspiciously as she watches Sarah and Col. Sheppard enter the transporter.

"So what did Beckett say was going on with Hermiod?" Col. Sheppard questions as the doors to the transporter close in front of him and Dr. Reilly, or the snake charmer as he was secretly calling her inside his head.

Sarah shot him a look that said I don't really like you right now, but then she just sighs before answering, "I'd really like to confirm it for myself before I start to make a fuss… or add to the gossip mill," adding the last part with a smirk.

Sheppard shots her a bit of a glare, but decides the best thing to do would be to just keep quiet for now, he'd find out soon enough and Dr. Reilly looked a bit wired over the news from the infirmary so he decided it couldn't be to bad.

The trip to the infirmary was mercifully short and quiet for Sarah and Ash if you discount the Colonel's almost constant fidgeting. This was one of the most annoying things for Sarah about being a Tok'ra, when people knew they had a tendency to be nervous when she was around. The only one here on Atlantis who knew, but hadn't seemed even the littlest bit nervous was Dr. Beckett though Sarah and Ash chalked that up to his scientific curiosity overshadowing any nervousness.

Though it wasn't just on Atlantis, Col. Caldwell had been more than a little wary about her posting in the beginning, not that she held it against him. He had every reason in the universe to feel uncomfortable around her. The fact was Sarah and Ash felt a lot of sympathy towards him for what he was forced to endure at the hands of a Goa'uld, a forced implantation… just the thought of it sicken both of them, because among the Tok'ra there was no higher crime than to take an unwilling host.

When Sarah, Ash and Colonel Sheppard arrived at the infirmary, Dr. Weir and Col. Caldwell were already there with Dr. Beckett staring at a computer screen.

_"Hurry up Sarah, I want to see,"_ Ash exclaims excitedly as they made their way over to the others.

"So what exactly am I looking at?" Col. Sheppard asks curiosity laced throughout his voice.

Completely ignoring the Colonel for the moment Sarah leans over Carson's shoulder to see the screen a huge smile curving her lips, "oh my God look at it," She says in a breathy whisper. A little laugh escapes Sarah's mouth unable to tear her eyes off the screen, "sorry Beckett guess I was looking too closely before, must still be the epidemiologist in me."

Carson chuckles a little at Sarah's response, "that's alright dear now I can officially claim the discovery myself," Sarah and Carson both start laughing like a couple of giddy children.

"If you two are quite finished, could you please explain what's going on," says Col. Caldwell a touch of impatience in his voice.

Carson and Sarah finally look at the other three people standing nearby, huge grins on their faces, Sarah answers, "well it would seem that Hermiod's… pregnant."

Blink, blink, Dr. Weir and Colonels Caldwell and Sheppard just stand speechless in front of the two physicians.

_"Shouldn't there be crickets chirping in the background right about now?"_ Ash asks her voice laced with her usual sarcasm.

Sarah can't stop herself from giggling at Ash's response, she's still a little giddy about the news of Hermiod's pregnancy, _"I don't think they have crickets here unless they imported 'em," _Sarah could feel Ash's smile at her quip.

Dr. Weir is the first to snap out of it, "he's what?" she asks, her voice is still slightly weak from shock.

"Yeah I'm with her," Col. Sheppard breaks in a moment after Dr. Weir's question, "I mean how is that even possible because I thought he was a… he."

"Actually there are several species where it is in fact the males that carry the children," Sarah answers quickly launching into teacher mode. Turning back to Carson, Sarah continues with the elaboration, "that's what I meant with the seahorse comment earlier; male seahorses carry the baby seahorses."

Col. Caldwell finally speaks up before Sarah can make any more examples, "wait I don't understand, I thought that the Asgard weren't able to reproduce."

"That's sort of our point here Colonel," Carson cuts in, "we might be lookin' at the future of Asgard race right now."

"You mean that little thing there," Col. Sheppard says pointing at the screen; however, he is actually pointing at one of Hermiod's internal organs, not the baby.

Sarah can sense that if Ash was in control of her body at the moment she would be rolling her eyes at Sheppard, _"ok that clenches it he's an idiot,"_ Ash says the annoyance in her voice more than obvious.

Carson; however, beats them to a response, "not exactly… but this isn't the most surprising thing."

"Carson if there's something more than Hermiod being pregnant, I'm not sure I want to know," Dr. Weir says her expression still one of shock.

"Actually I was more so talking to Dr. Reilly," Carson responds turning back to the computer to bring up another image. The image he brings up is of a triple helix DNA strand, "this is what we picked up from the scanners of the baby's genetic makeup." Carson zooms in a specific section, "as you can see it doesn't look like normal Asgard DNA, so this leads me hypothesis that perhaps this is what there DNA looks like in its embryonic or fetal stages, since we have no way of knowing precisely how far along this child is." Carson continues with his thoughts, "or it's possibly some kind of genetic abnormality…"

"It's not," Sarah states making Carson finally turn to look at her again her face has gone white as a sheet, "I've seen something like this before… you remember about four years ago when SG-1 made contact with the alien race that called themselves the Serrakin and that they had learned to co-exist with humans even inter-breed with them." Sarah begins to point out spots on the computer screen, "you see here, here and here those are human genetic markers."

Dr. Weir takes the opportunity to break into the conversation, "so are you saying that this child is part human?"

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying," Sarah states matter of factly to the others.

Silence once again descends over the group until it's finally broken by Col. Sheppard when he says quite incredulously, "no seriously, what?"

A/N: Bet ya'll didn't see that one comin', but this is what happens when I watch a documentary on PBS about declining seahorse populations in Indonesia. I thought it would be a really interesting twist for the Asgard if it turned out that it was the males that carried the babies. You know that old saying about how if men had to give birth that the species would die out; however, in this case that statement was entirely true. I promise the next chapter will have much more Chris and Sarah fun in it too and we'll find out who the mama is, though some of you may have already guessed.


End file.
